A Job in a Shop
by vballqueen17
Summary: Set during the episode Blink, What did the Doctor and Martha do while they waited for Sally Sparrow and how exactly did they get stuck in 1969 in the first place? Doctor/Martha friendship


Well, this is the first fanfic that I've written in a while, hope I'm not too rusty! Anyways first Doctor Who fanfic ever :O so I hope it's to everyone's liking! I set this story during the episode Blink in series 3. I had always wondered what the Doctor and Martha did while they waited for Sally Sparrow and how they got stuck in 1969 in the first place. Just some friendship between the Doctor and Martha and possibly some good typical Martha/Doctor bantering. So enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I would like to be a companion if it pleases the Doctor!

A Job in a Shop

The smell of black coffee and the hardy laugh of men and the gossipy chatter of women filled the small coffee shop that sat on the corner of Main and Harvard Street. Conversations of the upcoming mission to the moon and the latest news on the Cold War filled the air, but the girl working tirelessly behind the counter scarcely noticed any of it. Her dark hands filled cups clumsily and she nearly spilled hot tea on herself twice because her thoughts were preoccupied somewhere else's. She knew she could be anywhere else in the world right now, any other time too, and yet here she was serving coffee to people in a rinky dink coffee shop in bloody 1969. She might have been more interested if she hadn't already seen the soon to be moon landing-four times. She sighed and took a moment to stare at one man in particular who was sitting at a booth in the corner of shop and working intently on a device no human could think to invent.

_That's because he's not human._ She thought to herself and smiled. The man wore a blue pinstriped suit, a black skinny tie and, even though she couldn't seem them at the moment she knew they were there, maroon high top Converse. His brown hair was in a wild mess on top of his head, probably due to the fact that he ran his fingers through them every few minutes and a pair of glasses sat on his face as he concentrated on his mysterious machine. His brown trench coat lay askew on the booth seat.

"Miss, can I have my coffee please?" A man asked bringing the girl out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah, here you go." She said as she handed him the cup. She had been too concentrated on the man in the booth that she quite forgot that there were still a few costumers left in line trying to get a last minute drink or snack before the shop closed for the night. After the last customer had received his order the girl's brown eyes found their way back to the mysterious man in the booth who had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

"Martha are you sure he's not your boyfriend, I mean you stare at him all day like he is!"Another girl with short red hair said as she walked over to Martha.

Martha laughed nervously. "No, Kat, I told you he's just a friend. We're mate's that's all."

Kat cocked her head to the side and stared at the man Martha had previously been looking at. She looked back at Martha and smiled.

"Sure you are. What's that thing he's working on?" Kat said as she pointed to the machine.

Martha smile. "Don't know, do I? The Doctor is always working on something brilliant. I hope it's something that will get us home." She finished with a sigh as she placed her elbows on the counter and rested her head in her hands.

"Where'd you say you were from again?" Kat asked.

"Somewhere far away." Martha whispered. She suddenly straightened up and smiled at Kat. "But at least I've met a very good friend here to keep me company when the Doctor is busy doing, well, that." Martha said with a jerk of her thumb at the Doctor who took no noticed of either of them. Kat placed a friendly hand on Martha's shoulder.

"Hey, what are girl friends for? Much better than boys I'd say."

Martha laughed and the two girls set to work cleaning the coffee shop for the night. They mopped the floor and cleaned the counters and finally settled down in a booth, a mug of hot chocolate between them. After they did the cleaning they usually sat down and enjoyed a cup so to give the Doctor a bit more time on his machine before he and Martha went back to the apartment. It also gave Martha and Kat a real chance to talk since they were pretty busy throughout the day.

"So, Martha you never really told me how you and the, uh, Doctor got stuck here."

Martha took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. The memories of the London of her time came flooding into her head. She and the Doctor had been on the hunt for one of the many alien creatures that frequently inhabited the earth without the people really knowing.

They got out of the taxi and Martha pointed the way they needed to go. After a few seconds of running someone had called out to the Doctor.

"Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!' A girl with blond hair cried.

Martha and the Doctor stopped to see who had called out to him. "Hello! Sorry, bit of a rush, there's a sort of thing happening, fairly important we stop it." He said.

"My god, it's you. It's really you." She said as she looked at the Doctor in an excited manor. "Oh, you don't remember me, do you?" She said slightly disappointed.

Martha, who hadn't been paying attention to the conversation said, "We don't have time for this. Migration's started."

The Doctor, who had been looking at Martha turned back to the girl and said, "Look, sorry, I've got a complex life. Things don't always happen to me in order. Gets confusing, especially at weddings. I'm rubbish at weddings, especially my own." He finished with a faraway look in his eyes.

The Doctor saw a revelation come over the girl as she laughed. "Oh, my god! Of course, you're a time traveler. It hasn't happened yet! None of it, it's still in your future!"

The Doctor gave her a confused look as he said, "What hasn't happened?"

Martha was getting slightly impatient with the Doctor as he continued to have a conversation with the stranger. She looked down at her watch and shouted, "Doctor! Twenty minutes to red hatching!"

The girl smiled and the Doctor began to think that she was finally fitting the pieces together of some mysterious puzzle. "It was me. Oh, for god's sake, it was me all along. You got it all from me!"

The Doctor felt even more confused. "Got what?"

"Okay. Listen. One day you're going to get stuck in 1969. Make sure you've got this with you. You're going to need it." She said as she handed him a folder filled with papers.

"Doctor!" Martha yelled again.

"Yeah, listen, listen, got to dash...things happen. Well, four things. Well, four things and a lizard." He said as he began to move away from her.

"Okay. No worries, on you go. See you around, some day." She said with a smile.

The Doctor paused and asked, "What was your name?"

"Sally Sparrow."

The Doctor smiled. "Good to meet you, Sally Sparrow."

A man came up behind Sally and looked at the Doctor in utter disbelief. Sally took his hand, but before turning away she said, "Goodbye, Doctor."

The Doctor waved goodbye and caught up with Martha as they began to heads toward their original destination.

"What did she say to you?" Martha asked him.

"She said we were going to get stuck in 1969 and that all I would need would be in here." He said as held up the folder she had given him.

"1969? You're joking! How are we suppose to get stuck in 1969 and how does she know about it now?" Martha asked in disbelief.

The Doctor scratched his head as he said, "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. But as to the matter of how we'll actually get stuck there is a mystery to me." He looked at her and smiled an eager smile like a child who had just caused mischief. Martha had returned the smile. The thrill of a new and mysterious adventure excited them.

After the ordeal with red hatching Martha and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS which had stationed itself in an old abandoned house called Wester Drumlins House. It was a little spooky for Martha's taste, but the Doctor had seemed somewhat fascinated by the old age of it. The only thing creepier than the house was the weird angel statue covering its face out in the garden. She had seen it as they passed by a window and meant to point it out to the Doctor, but he had already made his way out the door. She dreaded walking past it again because it gave her that creepy feeling of someone watching you, but she was more than happy to get back in the TARDIS and start a new adventure.

"Doctor, I was wondering," Martha began as she and the Doctor got out of the taxi that had dropped them off in front of Wester Drumlins, "if we could possibly go visit someone famous from back in the day. You said I could pick where we go next."

"Of course, Martha, have anyone in particular in mind?" He asked as he pushed open the gate and started up the path towards the house. "I've always wanted to meet Mark Twain or maybe Tolkien, great writers of the past."

"Anyone! I really enjoyed meeting Shakespeare he was..." Martha trailed off as she stared in disbelief at one of the windows.

The Doctor stopped and curiously looked at her. "Martha?"

Martha's eyes were transfixed on an angel, the same angel she swore she had seen earlier that day. It was now staring down at her and the Doctor.

"Doctor," She said as she turned away, "look up there." She pointed to the window where the angel was. The Doctor followed her finger to find an empty window.

"Fascinating an empty window." He said amused as he smiled at Martha.

Martha did a double take and gazed at the now empty window.

"But I saw it staring at me! It was there when I looked up and now it's gone, but it can't have!" She said as trained her eyes on the window.

"What did you see?" He asked half amused half curious.

"It was a statue of an angel."

The amused expression on the Doctor's face suddenly fell and a look of horror spread across it.

"What did you say?" He half whispered.

"An angel. I swear it was the same one I saw this morning, but it had its hands over its face earlier and now it moved! But it can't possibly do that! It's just a statue." Martha said as she continued to look at the window.

"The Weeping Angel." The Doctor said to himself.

Martha tore her gaze from the window. "The what?"

Suddenly the Doctor took off running towards the house screaming, "No, no, no, no!" Martha blinked and took off after him in bewilderment. She had no idea why he would be frightened by a statue that may or may not have moved.

"Doctor, what is it?" She yelled as she saw him burst through the door. She followed him in and nearly ran into him for he had come to a complete stop in the hallway. Martha gasped when she saw three angel statues standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Martha whatever you do, don't blink." The Doctor said.

Martha suddenly felt a very strong urge to blink, but the sight of the statues made her too fearful of the act.

"Why? Doctor, what's happening?" She said as she grabbed his arm out of fear.

"These are no ordinary garden statues. They're called The Weeping Angels and are as old as Time itself or just about." He said without taking his eyes off of the angels.

"Why can't we blink?" She asked.

"The Weeping Angels can only move when you're not looking at them. When you look at them they turn to stone and cannot harm you. They move fast and in one blink of an eye they'll be on you before you can look at them again."

"What happens if they get you?" Martha asked as her eyes began to water.

"They send you back in time. Kill you kindly by letting you die in the past and they absorb all of the days you would have had in the present. They live off of potential energy. But the question is why are they here in the first place?" He added curiously.

Martha had heard enough. She swallowed a lump in her throat and said in a calm voice, "Let's just get back to the TARDIS and get out of here."

The Doctor clapped, nearly making Martha lose sight of the angels for a second. "That's it! They want the TARDIS, oh clever angels, but unfortunately for them they don't have a key!" The Doctor finished with a cocky smile.

"Yeah, great, can we just get to the TARDIS now?" Martha said knowing she couldn't hold back a blink for another minute.

"Right, we'll have to move slowly as we go up the stairs and keep and eye on them until we can get to the TARDIS."

The Doctor grabbed Martha's hand and they slowly slide past the angels making sure that they didn't take their eyes off of them. Once they were safely up the stairs the ran for the room the TARDIS had been in all afternoon. The Doctor felt in his pocket for the TARDIS key, but to his horror he found he could not find his.

"Doctor, I think they're coming." Martha said as she looked at the door.

The Doctor fished through every pocket he had for the key, but still could not find it. He frantically turned to Martha.

"Martha, where's your key?"

Martha turned to face him, but a suddenly sound made them both look towards the door. Martha screamed. She and the Doctor fell back a couple of steps as they stared at the three angels holding out their arms, ready to grab both of them. Their angelic faces had been transformed into twisted, ugly expressions with sharp teeth and hateful eyes.

"Don't blink, Martha. Tell me where your key is and I'll find it." The Doctor said quietly.

"It's in the left, inside pocket of my leather coat." Martha choked out.

The Doctor quickly went over to her left side and reached into her pocket, but as he bent down to reach into her pocket the floor gave a great groan and the boards broke under his weight, making his foot fall through the hole he had just made. This sudden crash in the floor boards caused the Doctor to lose his balance and crash into Martha who broke eye contact with the angels. There was a sudden feeling as if the air had been taken out of their lungs and then as quickly as it came it was gone. Martha breathed deeply the smell of fresh air as the sound of a city filled her ears. She quickly remembered the angels and opened up her eyes, but as she did she really wish she hadn't.

They were no longer on the floor of the Wester House by the TARDIS surrounded by angel statues, but where in the grass of a park in the middle of the afternoon. Some people gave them strange looks and Martha knew why. The Doctor and herself must have appeared out of nowhere and she recalled that they had fallen into an awkward position with the Doctor's arms wrapped around her waist.

"Where are we?" She asked as they untangled themselves.

The Doctor stood up and held out a hand for Martha. She gladly took it as he hoisted her to her feet. They looked around their surroundings for a moment and then the Doctor said, "1969."

"How'd you know-" Martha began, but then stopped suddenly when she remembered Sally Sparrow and the folder she had given the Doctor. The Doctor smiled when he saw her catch on. "Right," Martha finally said, "mystery transport to 1969, solved." She said with a slight smile.

"Nasty way to travel though." The Doctor said as he rubbed his head.

"So how do we get the TARDIS back?" She asked as she grabbed the folder from his hands.

"Oh I guess we'll just have to do whatever dear old Sally has left us with." He said as smiled down at the folder.

"Dear old Sally? She probably hasn't even been born yet!"

"Well, at least we got the moon landing to look forward too." He said as he winked at her.

Martha smiled and the Doctor grabbed her hand as they walked to the nearest bench to read what they would have to do and how long they would have to wait.

Martha opened her eyes to see Kat staring patiently at her. She smiled and wondered if she could tell her new friend the truth of how exactly they had arrived in1969. She was pulled from her thoughts when the Doctor suddenly called out to her.

"Martha, I could use a spoon, got one on hand?"

Martha laughed as she held up the spoon she had used to stir her hot chocolate with. The Doctor quickly got up from his booth and plucked the spoon from her hands and quickly went back to his work.

"Well you see, Kat, the Doctor and I were traveling and we sort of lost our transportation." Martha began as a way of explanation without really telling the whole truth.

"Working on it!" The Doctor called from his booth.

Both girls laughed. "You mean the TARDIS thing?" Kat asked.

Martha nearly choke on her hot chocolate. "But how do you know it's called that?" She asked in complete disbelief.

Kat shrugged and said, "I heard him saying something about 'if the angels get the TARDIS then everyone will be in trouble' one day while he was working as I brought him a cup of tea. Strange name for a car, really, and what was all that nonsense about angels?"

Martha almost laughed with relief as she said, "Oh, you know him, all he does it talk nonsense all the time. After so many years of traveling all you do is say nonsense things, but you learn to live with it."

Kat lowered her voice to a whisper even though she knew the Doctor was too preoccupied with his work to listen in on their conversation. "But if you guys have been traveling so long together you guys must be something."

Martha sighed. If only that were true. "No, we're just mates." As she said this she turned to look over her shoulder at him.

"That look suggest more than mates, miss." Kat said with a knowing smile.

"He had this friend." Martha finally said. "A different girl he use to travel with and I think he might have liked her, god am I daft, loved her seems more like it. Anyways he lost her and I don't know if he ever really got over that."

"Then why do you travel with him if you think he still thinks of that other girl?" Kat asked sympathetically.

Martha had been asking herself that many times. She stole another look over her shoulder and a faint smile came to her lips as she watched him work away on his machine.

"Because...because he's lonely and he needs me, he just doesn't know it."

Kat patted her hand gently and smiled. The Doctor was suddenly standing in front of them, a huge smile on his face.

"I finally got it to work!" He said as he held up the machine that was clicking and beeping.

"Is it suppose to make that sound?" Kat asked as she reached out to touch it.

"Kat!" Martha said. "We really should be going, it's getting late and you have to work tomorrow."

Kat's hand fell away and she nodded sadly. "Lucky you got the day off I suppose, but Matt is working tomorrow and with you out of the way maybe he'll finally stop flirting with you and start with me." She said with a small laugh.

"Believe me, he's all yours." Martha said as they got up to go.

As the chilled air met them and they parted ways the Doctor gave Martha a confused look.

"Matt? Matt who?"

Martha smiled as they headed back for the apartment. "Oh don't you worry, alien boy, I'm not getting side tracked by cute 1969 boys."

The Doctor returned her smile. Martha pointed to the machine in his hand and said, "You going to tell me what that thing is and what it does?"

The Doctor held up the machine and his smile grew wider. "This is a timey-wimey detector!"

"What an impressive name." Martha said sarcastically.

"Well, I named it after what it does and there wasn't a better way to put it, plus it's fun to say timey-wimey detector. Go on, say it!" He urged her.

"I am not going to say it!" Martha said in protest as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, come on, Martha!" He said eagerly.

"No!" He gave her his playful grin and Martha rolled her eyes as she sighed. "Fine, timey-wimey detector."

The Doctor smiled again. "There don't you feel better?"

"I feel foolish." Martha said, but she was laughing. "Now what does it do?"

"It does exactly what it is named for. It detects timey-wimey stuff. According to Sally's stuff we'll be running into a friend of hers and he'll get here the same way we did."

"Touch of an angel." Martha said.

"Exactly! And when he gets here this thing will go ding and we'll find him!"

"That sounds full proof." Martha said cautiously.

"Martha, " the Doctor said in a lecture tone of voice, "when have I ever led you astray?"

"Well, let's see. How about nearly burning up into the sun on that space ship? Or the Daleks in America? Or New New New New New New or however many New New York where I got kidnapped by those people who took me in their car that almost got eaten by those crab things?" Martha ticked off on her fingers.

With each situation she named the Doctor's face fell more and more into a frown.

"Or when that Lazarus guy nearly ate me and Tish or when you became human and you forgot about me and I had to save-"

"Okay! Okay!" He said interrupting her. "Point taken, but I have gotten you out of all those situations and you're still traveling with me." He added with a wink.

"Well, you can't expect me to leave with all that amazing stuff happening and all the wonderful stuff still left to see out in the universe, can you? Beside who would keep you company?" She said as she elbowed him.

"Oh Martha Jones, I like you."

"I know." She said knowingly. "I just want to let you know that I don't want to work in a shop forever, mate! Supporting you is a lot harder than it seems!" She said jokingly.

"Rose use to work in a shop before I met her and then I blew it up." He said fondly.

Martha got that feeling she always did when he mentioned Rose. She tried not to be jealous of the girl she never knew because if the Doctor had liked her then she must have been one hell of a person, but she couldn't help, but feel a little jealous that he didn't view herself in the same light. The Doctor must have read her mind or part of it at least because he gave her a soft smile.

"You know, I never do thank you enough for all you do, Martha."

Martha smiled at this. "If we get the TARDIS back then you can thank me by taking me to ancient Rome or Egypt and have them build a monument after me."

The Doctor laughed as they continued walking. Martha suddenly stopped. The Doctor turned to see what had made her stop walking. Martha's eyes were staring down at the ground. Despite her complete trust in the Doctor she couldn't keep away the nagging feeling that she may never see her family again.

"What if we can't get back? My family will never know..." Tears sprung into her eyes and she did the best she could to blink them back.

The Doctor walked over to her, placed his machine on the ground, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh, Martha Jones the universe has bigger plans for us than keeping us waiting to watch the moon landing again for the fifth time."

Martha laughed through her tears and looked up at the Doctor. "It would be nice to watch it on a tele for a change I suppose, but you're right. If I have to here Neil Armstrong say 'That's one small step for man, one giant step for mankind.'" they both quoted together, "I'll have to shoot myself."

"You and me both." He said. He then kissed the top of her head and they smiled at each other. Suddenly the Doctor's timey-wimey detector went off. Martha and the Doctor looked at each other excitedly as he picked it up.

"I don't believe it! It actually works!" Martha cried with happiness.

"Allons-y!" The Doctor cried as he tore off in the direction the timey-wimey detector was apparently telling him to go.

The soon found a man sitting against a building with his eyes closed in what appeared to be pain. The Doctor's smile grew wider and Martha felt hope rising in her chest. The Doctor gave Martha a quick wink before he walked towards the man, the timey-wimey detector clicking and beeping loudly.

"Welcome." The Doctor said as they approached the man they knew was Billy and towards the hope that they were soon finally going to get out of here.

Well, there we go! I had the intention of this being a oneshot and it is for now, unless you want more. I have no problem adding another chapter if it is demand and I have no problem not adding anything at all. When I originally wrote this I hadn't plan on using the actual scene from Blink with Sally giving the Doctor the folder, but after thinking about it I thought it was a good idea to add it in. One reason was because it would refresh everyone who hasn't seen the episode in a while and another reason is that it makes it seem more like a continuation of the actual episode (in my mind at least).

Anyways I would really love feedback (good and bad). Tell me what you liked, didn't like and everything else in between. It would be most appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read it!

vballqueen17


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